… I’m sure it still makes a plenty big sound.
The Russians launched an unmanned rocket loaded with several tons of supplies bound for the International Space Station earlier this week and while it got off to a good start, the delivery faltered and the mission fell back to Earth.
News reports explain that this event is cause for serious concern now that Russian boosters are the only reliable method we have for getting to the space station. The shutting down of the U.S. Space Shuttle program means the next American in space will have to get there atop a rocket similar to the one that just had an unplanned landing in Siberia. No doubt NASA’s decision makers are looking at this very closely. But before we point fingers, let’s remember that our own space program has suffered several genuine disasters that involved tragic losses, and yet we sent good people back up in what was basically the same equipment.
This recent Russian space failure resulted in no loss of life, so far as we know. But there were several intriguing line near the end of the article which forces me to hedge …
The rocket and Progress ship crashed in the dense Siberian forest. The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said rocket debris landed in three separate areas of the Altai region in southern Siberia, which borders Mongolia.
The regional governor, Yuri Antaradonov, said the police had cautioned people to stay clear of the wreckage, as it could be contaminated with toxic fuel. His only concern, he said, was that some people may have been camped in the forest at the time of the crash because “it is the season of collecting pine nuts” in that part of Siberia.
Forget the East Coast surprise Earthquake and the looming menace of Hurricane Irene. What if you were out in the beautifully dense Siberian forest collecting pine nuts when you noticed your reindeer was gazing up at a rapidly growing, rumbling speck in the August sky?
Does this mean pine nuts are going to be even MORE expensive?
What is the most surprising thing you’ve seen overhead?
Trail Baboon 
Nothing to compare with the Siberian experience…..As a young driver I was piloting my father’s Buick Electra (it was too big to drive, it needed to be piloted) on a 12 mile long straight highway with no exits. Suddenly a hawk with wings fully spread descended on the window completely obscuring my vision. I had no idea what to do though I considered slowing down and turning on the windshield wipers.Luckily the hawk lifted off before smashing the window.
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Hmm, I don’t generally see a lot of spooky stuff in the sky. I guess the most amazing thing I’ve seen when looking up was the Aurora Borealis, one of those fascinating light shows with rippling waves of neon light flashing across the sky.
I’ll be out of touch for a few days (unless someone brings a laptop up to the cabin). I can’t say how much I look forward to this cabin trip.
Be well, fellow baboons. Don’t put no beans up your nose.
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Oh, the Aurora Borealis! I have seen them only a handful of times, and each time they absolutely take my breath away. Sitting on the end of a dock jutting into a still, northern Minnesota lake, sipping champagne while overhead mother nature is putting on the ultimate light show and the loons call out in wonder, it just does not get any better than that. A perfect end to a perfect day.
Have a great cabin trip, baboons.
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Safe travels to the baboons heading north – have a blast, and enjoy the chautuaqua.
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Have fun at the cabin, all you Baboons – I’m so sorry we can’t make it.
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Yes, have a WONDERFUL time. Wish I could join you all.
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And we’d love a full report later…
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On the first Christmas Eve after I had separated from my ex, I attended a We Care meeting in Minnetonka. In addition to the couple who was moderating the meeting, we were four miserable, lonely people in attendance, myself and three men I had never met before. At the end of the meeting, one of the men extended an invitation to everyone to come to his house for a drink. We all accepted, but one by one, the other two men changed their minds as we were walking to our cars. I felt sheepish about backing out too, so with great misgivings, I followed the man who had extended the invitation to his house. He lived in an upstairs duplex. Just before entering his apartment he said: “Maybe I should warn you, my house is a little different.” That didn’t do much for boosting my confidence, but I brushed it aside thinking that perhaps it was little messy. His front door opened right into the living room, and there, suspended from the ceiling was his decorated Christmas tree, complete with gifts tacked up around its base. He proceeded to explain that his world had been turned completely upside down when his marriage fell apart, and that he had decided he might as well celebrate Christmas that way as well.
He fixed us both an eggnog spiked with rum and spent the rest of the evening talking and making balloon animals. I drove home a few hours later with two big grocery bags full of them.
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What a lovely way to, quite literally, change your perspective on something. Bet that tree was a thing to behold.
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Rise and Shine Baboons!
Generally, I am surprised each time I wake up in the morning, still alive and without a disaster that my mother warned me was coming at all times. These anticipated disasters, of course, cancelled out any joy that might be due that day simply because things were ok.
Another airborne surprise was the Bald Eagle roosting on the 46th/Ford Parkway Bridge over the Mississippi last fall. He/She decided to take off right next to my car as I passed over the bridge.
It…… was……. a……. very……. big….. bird.
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Eagles in the city. It blows me away every time I see one. You’re right, Jacque, up close and personal they are huge.
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My daughter and I saw two enormous white birds flying north one spring on one of our trips to Bismarck. They had with black wing tips and held their neck in such a way while flying that they couldn’t have been anything else but whooping cranes.
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empty skies after 911
fighter jets buzzing the treetops in the lake district of england . it is such a beautiul area that the planes which were very regular just seemed out of place.
total eclipse in chicago 15 years ago lunar eclipse dricing across wisconsin 20 years ago
northen lights any old time
looking forward to the weekend
see you all later.on
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wow tim, the empty skies-we live fairly close to MSP so after awhile, you really don’t notice the air traffic, but that day it was so quiet-in our part of the world it was also a beautiful cloudless day and we went to the playground at the school after voting in the primary-unforgettable.
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i also remember a time we were driving north from Belle Fourche SD after a trip to Rapid City in a really desolate area. We were the only car on the road in the middle of grasslands and not much else except antelope, when this really big, black, and very quiet fighter jet flew really low in front of the car. We hadn’t heard a thing to indicate a jet was nearby. I guess it was from the air base near Rapid. Could it have been a Stealth Fighter?
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Good morning to all,
I saw numberous “falling stars” one night and have also seen the northern lights several times. We see pelicans here regularly in the fall and spring and they put on a big show flying fairly low over head in formations.
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love pelican formations they are ike dancers
faling star nights are magical too
good reminder of specal moments
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Teenager and I saw a shooting star just last week when we were in the Black Hills. It was the first one the teenager had ever seen since our nights in non-light-polluted areas are pretty infrequent!
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My dad and I were headed to Rock Creek for some fishing one weekend when I was home, and he’d tied the (aluminum) rowboat on the top of the car, securely so he thought. As we were headed south on Hwy. 14, the rigging broke and our boat flew off the back of the car, bounced and landed on the road behind us. I thank all the Powers That Be that there was no one driving close behind us, but I can see what that boat would have looked like if it was coming at me. For some reason, it’s very clear in my mind’s eye.
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OMG, that’s scary! I bet your pretty badly shook up.
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Reminds me of once driving on I-94 behind a smallish truck loaded with a bunch of old tires. The tires were not tied down in any way, and I remember thinking, better get away from this truck, that doesn’t look safe. I had no sooner completed that thought, when one of the tires bounced off the load, and came flying toward me. Missed me by inches.
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hood flying up drving down the freeway was a little like that. it didn’t come from above but it ended up there relatively speaking
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Most things that have come out of the clear blue sky have come, for me, figuratively rather than literally. I did once have a nest of baby squirrels come down near me while I was working in a garden. Sadly, none of the babies survived very long after hitting the ground.
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Oh, the squirrelity…
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snort
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Double snort.
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I was very suprised one day when I looked around and saw a squirrel leading a group of very young squirrels down the trunk of a large maple in our back yard. I could not make a good count of the young squirrels, but I am sure there were at least seven of them. I stood still and they moved down the tree and across the yard to another tree. It seemed like it was the first outing for the young squirrels. They must not have seen me when they started down the trunk and it might have been impossible for them to get turned around and headed back up when they saw me. During the rest of that summer I saw the young squirrels from time to time in various near by trees.
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1) That (occasionally) women (including my wife) find me attractive and want to spend time with me.
2) That my Dad actually went to the Emergency Room after his bed time a couple of years ago (saved his life!).
3) That, occasionally, people pay me money for my writing, photos, or to talk into a microphone.
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I had very good luck getting a job I really liked and that was sort of like something unusual coming out of the sky.
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“What’s the use of ushering the day with prayer, if it is . . . consecrated to turning a few more pennies merely.” H. D. Thoreau
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life can be simple huh? enjoy the small stuff.
glad your dad made a good decision
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Big orange moons always take me by surprise.
Mr. MNiS is trying to learn kiteboarding. I guess I never thought about inflatable kites getting airborne before.
Happy trails to the cabin baboons! We’re on the road to Sault Ste. Marie for the State Fair (was there ever a doubt as to which state?)…
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To borrow TGITH’s format:
1. Black crowned night heron spotted on a walk home from school last spring with Daughter (in the middle of SW Mpls, by Minnehaha Creek) – also the several hawks that swoop around in the neighborhood (especially when they fly through my tiny back yard close enough for me to almost touch them)
2. “We got your submission and we’d like to interview you for ‘The Story with Dick Gordon’…” (my 30 minutes of NPR fame)
3. “I remember you – you were the one with the braids…” (a volunteer from a program I used to work with remembering me from my village idiot days at Renaissance Festival – it seemed odd that a quiet character like me was remembered with such bigger, louder folks around…)
And probably several more – some less pleasant, some equally pleasant.
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Anna, I too worked at the Renaissance Festival many, many moons ago (mid70s). Have fun memories from that time, bet you do too.
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I love RenFest, but have never worked it.
Teenager informed me just last night that she’d like to take a friend along this year – because she doesn’t want to have to sit through Tuey again this year. She said “we’ve seen him do that routine 100 times”. I said “and your point is…..”
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What was your work, PJ?
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Selling nosegays from the king’s flower shop. Hawking them like Eliza Dolittle all over the fair grounds, appealing to the gentlemen to buy them for their ladies. Dressed in a dress from Shakespeare in the Street and with a flower garland in my blonde Afro, greeted in a very genteel fashion by the various players strutting around the fair grounds. It was so much fun getting into the spirit of the time. One of the more fun jobs I’ve had.
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I was out there for a bunch of years mid-80s into the 90s. It was fun – and certainly good experience in a lot of ways.
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“Would that life were like the shadow cast by a wall or a tree, but it is like the shadow of a bird in flight.”
The Talmud
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Until the day your ability to reason and converse, your car keys, and all other means of independence are taken from you. My dad’s days are excruciatingly long.
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So sad, Donna. It may well be harder on you than on him. But certainly not a pleasant thing to witness.
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I’ve finally thought of the movie that’s been at the back of my mind all day, related to this topic… The Gods Must Be Crazy. 🙂
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Loved that movie. Good night all.
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